Increasingly there is a requirement for smaller and more ergonomic electronic apparatus adapted for comfort in use and ease of storage. This has led in many cases to apparatus becoming smaller and therefore more easily handled. This has in turn led to the miniaturization of electronic components and an increased awareness of space conservation in chip and circuit board design. The hand held radio telephone is one product which has profited from such miniaturization with radio telephones today being considerably smaller than those available even a few years ago. In order to continue this trend large sums of money and considerable time have been spent in electronics research in order to produce components which provide relatively small reductions in space.
Most portable electronic apparatus such as radio telephones require a power source generally in the form of one or more cells contained within the device or a detachable battery pack.
Battery packs are generally bulky, comprising a housing enclosing the cells. Therefore, regardless of the miniaturization of the electronic components within the actual telephone, the overall telephone size will be limited at least in part by the dimensions of the battery pack.